In the North of England is a notorious area of the River Wharfe called The Strid. Known to have a 100% fatality rate to any poor soul that falls in.
Reports date back hundreds of years, telling tales of children daring each other to jump across the narrow gap, missing their footing and falling in, never to be seen again. There have also been recorded deaths in modern times too, one being in 1998 of a honeymooning couple disappearing along the strid’s banks. Fascinated by these stories I decided to go see and believe it for myself, and for those of you living in England or visiting, you too can go see the deadliest river in the world.
Parking and Directions
You’ll be driving towards the beautiful Yorkshire dales, an area of great landscapes and a national park. The Strid part of the River Wharfe which is the infamous part you want to see is located in the Bolton Abbey/Strid woods area. There are actually four car parks due to the size of this place but you want to aim for Strid Wood Car Park BD23 6AN. The cost of parking is about £12.00 – £15.00, which is quite expensive but you can make a long hike out of it at least if you head towards the valley of desolation too.
Once you get to the car park, have a look at the map to orientate yourself and read more about the Strid Woods.
As you can see from the map of the Strid woods, its only a 10- 15 minute walk from the Strid woods car park to The Strid itself (red exclamation mark triangle The Strid, not the stepping stones one). However you can walk around for an hour or more to explore the rest of the Strid woods and valley of desolation which has a nice waterfall.
The Strid and the Danger Zone
When we arrived at the Strid, there had been heavy rainfall, so the flow of the river was very fast and high, making it the utmost dangerous it could be – however the sheer power of the flow was incredible to see. The pressure of all this incredible volume of river water suddenly gets squeezed into a small 6 foot wide gap at The Strid. This causes the water to carve out caves in the rocks surrounding it to relieve the immense pressure. Essentially if someone falls in, they’re dragged into these underwater caves immediately, where even after drowning, their bodies sometimes never come back out. I wrote more about this phenomenon which can occur in other rivers too in my water hazard blog, which includes an illustratative diagram.
Before getting to the Strid, you’ll have a nice vantage point view of the River Wharfe as a normal river, before being squeezed by the Strid.
It’s also where the famous painter JMW Turner did his painting of Barden Tower in the distance. Naturally this attracts artists of today to take inspiration from Turner’s view spot too.
And now you come to the Strid itself. The River Wharfe is suddenly squeezed violently by topographical forces into a 6 foot wide opening between hard rocks. Turning a river on its side essentially.
Please be careful when walking on the rocks and do not get too close. They are very slippery and it’s very easy to lose your footing. As both the legends and historical accounts go, you will unfortunately not survive a fall into the Strid.
To make the most of your exorbitant car parking fee, I suggest you keep walking down the path towards the valley of desolation to see more natural views and a waterfall at the end of it.
All in all, aside from being a trip to go and see the deadliest river in the world, it can turn out to be a nice hike to explore the Strid woods and a great waterfall at the end too.
Adventures Of Zach 